Latin Americans rank as happiest people on planet

Mexico City, Dec 21: The world's happiest people aren't in Qatar, the richest country by most measures. They aren't in Japan, the nation with the highest life expectancy. Canada, with its chart-topping percentage of college graduates, doesn't make the top 10. A poll released Wednesday of nearly 150,000 people around the world says seven of the world's 10 countries with the most upbeat attitudes are in Latin America. Many of the seven do poorly in traditional measures of well-being, like Guatemala, a country torn by decades of civil war followed by waves of gang-driven criminality that give it one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Guatemala sits just above Iraq on the United Nations' Human Development Index, a composite of life expectancy, education and per capita income. But it ranks seventh in positive emotions. "In Guatemala, it's a culture of friendly people who are always smiling," said Luz Castillo, a 30-year-old surfing instructor. "Despite all the problems that we're facing, we're surrounded by natural beauty that lets us get away from it all." Gallup Inc. asked about 1,000 people in each of 148 countries last year if they were well-rested, had been treated with respect, smiled or laughed a lot, learned or did something interesting and felt feelings of enjoyment. In Panama and Paraguay, 85 percent of those polled said yes to all five, putting those countries at the top of the list. They were followed closely by El Salvador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica. The people least likely to report positive emotions lived in Singapore, the wealthy and orderly city-state that ranks among the most developed in the world. Other wealthy countries also sat surprisingly low on the list. Germany and France tied with the poor African state of Somaliland for 47th place. Prosperous nations can be deeply unhappy ones. And poverty-stricken ones are often awash in positivity, or at least a close approximation of it. It's a paradox with serious implications for a relatively new and controversial field called happiness economics that seeks to improve government performance by adding people's perceptions of their satisfaction to traditional metrics such as life expectancy, per capita income and graduation rates. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan famously measures policies by their impact on a concept called Gross National Happiness. British Prime Minister David Cameron announced a national well-being program in 2010 as part of a pledge to improve Britons' lives in the wake of the global recession. A household survey sent to 200,000 Britons asks questions like "How satisfied are you with your life nowadays?" The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which unites 34 of the world's most advanced countries, recently created a Better Life Index allowing the public to compare countries based on quality of life in addition to material well-being. Some experts say that's a dangerous path that could allow governments to use positive public perceptions as an excuse to ignore problems. As an example of the risks, some said, the Gallup poll may have been skewed by a Latin American cultural proclivity to avoid negative statements regardless of how one actually feels. "My immediate reaction is that this influenced by cultural biases," said Eduardo Lora, who studied the statistical measurement of happiness as the former chief economist of the Inter-American Development Bank. "What the empirical literature says is that some cultures tend to respond to any type of question in a more positive way," said Lora, a native of Colombia, the 11th most-positive country. For the nine least positive countries, some were not surprising, like Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Haiti. For others at the bottom, Armenia at the second lowest spot, Georgia and Lithuania, misery is something a little more ephemeral. "Feeling unhappy is part of the national mentality here," said Agaron Adibekian, a sociologist in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. "Armenians like being mournful; there have been so many upheavals in the nation's history. The Americans keep their smiles on and avoid sharing their problems with others. And the Armenians feel ashamed about being successful." The United States was No. 33 in positive outlook. Jon Clifton, a partner at Gallup, acknowledged the poll partly measured cultures' overall tendency to express emotions, positive or negative. But he said skeptics shouldn't undervalue the expression of positive emotion as an important phenomenon in and of itself. "Those expressions are a reality, and that's exactly what we're trying to quantify," he said. "I think there is higher positive emotionality in these countries." Some Latin Americans said the poll hit something fundamental about their countries: a habit of focusing on posivites such as friends, family and religion despite daily lives that can be grindingly difficult. Carlos Martinez sat around a table with 11 fellow construction workers in a Panama City restaurant sharing a breakfast of corn empanadas, fried chicken and coffee before heading to work on one of the hundreds of new buildings that have sprouted during a yearslong economic boom driven in large part by the success of the Panama Canal. The boom has sent unemployment plunging, but also increased traffic and crime. Martinez pronounced himself unhappy with rising crime but "happy about my family." "Overall, I'm happy because this is a country with many natural resources, a country that plays an important role in the world," he said. "We're Caribbean people, we're people who like to celebrate, to eat well and live as well as we can. There are a lot of possibilities here, you just have to sacrifice a little more." Singapore sits 32 places higher than Panama on the Human Development Index, but at the opposite end of the happiness list. And things weren't looking good Wednesday to Richard Low, a 33-year-old businessman in the prosperous Asian metropolis. "We work like dogs and get paid peanuts. There's hardly any time for holidays or just to relax in general because you're always thinking ahead: when the next deadline or meeting is. There is hardly a fair sense of work-life balance here," he said. In Paraguay, tied with Panama as the most-positive country while doing far worse than Panama by objective measures, street vendor Maria Solis said tough economic conditions were no reason to despair. "Life is short and there are no reasons to be sad because even if we were rich, there would still be problems," she said while selling herbs used for making tea. "We have to laugh at ourselves." Comments by people in some of the countries that rank as the world's most and least positive:MOST POSITIVE1. PANAMA"We're naturally very happy. We have our problems in life but we forget them quickly and we start over; it's a question of culture." -- Hildaura Ortega, 30, English professor, Panama City.1. PARAGUAY"The farmers, the peasants, they are happy and joyful despite the problems of everyday life, but the city dwellers, those used to the city routine, are very individualistic and colder because life is too fast and competitive." -- Franca La Carrubba, dean of psychology, Paraguay Autonomous University. 3. EL SALVADOR"Salvadorans are positive, very contented, friendly people, but that doesn't mean we're happy. We live in a country with low salaries, where many are out of work and we're threatened by gangs and drug dealers." -- Juan Carlos Hernandez, bank worker, San Salvador. 5. TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO"As a people, we are laid back, even on serious matters. To take life that way even if you're facing difficult situations is good for your health." -- Hugo James, 35, copywriter for advertising agency. 5. THAILAND"I don't aspire to be the king. I just want to have enough -- a house, a car, a bit of money saved up. That's enough to make me happy, whereas some wealthy people just keep wanting more." -- Natthinee Sriboonmee, 32, clothing vendor in Bangkok. 7. GUATEMALA"We're so used to these problems that we ignore what's going on and live our lives despite them." -- Estefani Brolo, singer, 28, Guatemala City. 7. PHILIPPINES"Just being with my family makes me happy ... We have fun together as a family. ... We have bonding time and we say prayers together. ... They are my inspiration. As long as we are all healthy, I am happy. There is nothing better than that." -- Felicio Sayat, 35, security guard who works 12 hours a day at parking lot, Manila.LEAST POSITIVE 1. SINGAPORE"There's a lot of pressure to perform to expectations and conform to norms here so I think that overrides our personal happiness ... Most of my kids are very focused and spend long hours dedicated to school. As a teacher you want what is best for your students but you can't help but feel they miss out on a childhood." -- Fung Yeewai, 25, part-time teacher. 2. ARMENIA"As for me, I feel fine and see no reason to be unhappy. But many people I know feel unhappy about various problems." -- Lilit Babadzhanian, 28, medical worker, Yerevan. 4. GEORGIA"There have been so many conflicts after the Soviet collapse, and so many refugees." -- Marina Kupreishvili, 52, doctor. 4. SERBIA"What is there to be happy about? Poverty, no jobs and even the possibility of more wars? No way. The only strategy for many young people here is to get out as soon as possible. The sooner, the better." -- Petar Jovanovic, medical student, Belgrade. 7. BELARUS"I want to go abroad. It's stupid to live in a dictatorship in the middle of Europe. It's fear that makes Belarusians unhappy. Everyone is afraid of being crushed by the state. Living in Belarus means no freedom, no money and no future." -- Maxim Luksha, 20, university student. 8. LITHUANIA"Lithuanians feel unhappy, because they believe that there is no sociological justice in the country. The conditions for family business are not conducive, and the basis of Lithuanian economy is big business. The wages of employees are low, and the whole social situation is unfair. This makes the main difference between Lithuania and other countries in Europe." -- Vladas Gaidys, director of public opinion firm Vilmorus, Vilnius.